Life, 1899-11-09 · page 5 of 20
Life — November 9, 1899 — page 5: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of Life Magazine Page 365 **"Special Sale"** (left): A satirical poem mocking a female shopkeeper's sales pitch. She hawks goods at her store with exaggerated claims, then admits her stock is small and she's forced to follow a harsh "one kiss per customer" rule. The humor targets both aggressive retail marketing tactics and flirtation-based commerce—likely reflecting early 20th-century attitudes about women in business. **"Not Unexpected"** (right): A brief dialogue joke about someone's death ("Cassidy") where the punchline suggests the person "had a sickly look the last time I saw him"—dark humor relying on obvious foreshadowing. **"To Fight or Not to Fight"** (bottom): Governor Roosevelt advises mothers that boys naturally inclined toward fighting shouldn't be discouraged, as aggression builds character. This reflects period debates about masculinity, child-rearing, and physical toughness.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
365 gy) oe Special Sale. WEET CLORINDA, fresh and fair, Stood behind the flowered rail, Mistress of the counter where Goods most procious wore on sale. Sofa cushions? Tidies? No; Nothing by her flogers mado— Rarer, dearer, chotcer, Oh — Kisses woro her stock-in-tradg! Not Unexpected. QO MAEEEREY: ‘Twas a sad blow thot befell Cassidy. Did ye not hear? MoGrinxiss: Sorra th’ word av ut. “Sure, he’s dead. Sthruck be lightnin’, he was ” “Ol my! O! my! But I’m not surprised. Faith, he had a sickly look the lasht toime I seen him,” Ab! tho samplo was so sweet Which I purchased at hor storo, That I thought I would repeat— Maybo hulf-u-dozen moro, 8o said I, becoming bold, “T'lla proposition make. Here's my wallet filled with gold, Let mo all your kissos take.” Then my purse I handod out ‘Trusting she would deem It fair; But she seemed a bit tn doubt. “No, kind sir, you've had your share, For, you seo, the goods I soll—" Hore eho paused and dropped hor oyes— “ Aro dispensed, I fain must tell, Ata dreadful sucrifico! “And my stock {s mall, indeod — Now I scarce huve left 4 scoro— 80 a rule I'm forced to heed, (As in a department store When they have a ‘special run’). "Tis a fatr rule, I aver— Ot my kisses only ono To each, single customor!" + Paul West. To Fight or Not to Fight. OVERNOR ROOSEVELT talked to the Assembly of Mothers that met at Albany the other day, and of course he told them that they ought to let their boys fight. That makes us laugh, but ft is only just to the Governor to say that his advice, as reported, was, on the whole, fairly sound. Tobesure, he made some mistakes, “if any of you has boy,” said he, “who will not on good provocation fight, that boy is not worth his salt.” That is not necessarily true, ‘A boy may have good provocation and a strong inclination to fight, and yet may think it expedient to restrain himself. Mothers who have pugnacious boys ought to bear with them, for they may make first-rate men, But mothers whose boys are peaceably disposed need not despair nor goad them on to needless conflicts, Forsome boysare by nature sweet tempered and slow to anger, and will let opportunities fur combat slip by them sometimes in spite of the best mothers ih the world, Don't drown such lads. Raise them ou speculation. They are quite likely to make pleasant folks, and now and then, the conditions being favorable, they turn you out a hero, A good.many little boys are timid. Don't drown even these, for most of them outgrow it, What le not common is aggressive righteousness. Thatis scarce and valuable. If your boy, madam, has that, don’t worry about his fights, No doubt he needs fre- quent licking; but anyhow, if he is ever to learn to regulate evil- doers, he must get his hands in betimes.